Cam-Cam the Big Ham

I've mentioned expecting our first baby. I should probably mention this first baby we're expecting isn't really our first baby! It's our first HUMAN baby!

In late 2004 Mark and I talked about the idea of getting a puppy. We agreed we wanted an English Bulldog. So we started our hunt. Boy were we surprised at how expensive a bulldog puppy is. So we started looking at adoption. We filled out an application on http://www.rescuebulldogs.org/ looked at the pictures of available bullies that were no where near us. Finally in June 2005 someone called us out of the blue to find out if we were still interested in adoption. We of course said yes! Adopting a bulldog is not exactly easy. You can see we were on a waiting list for quite a while. They needed to come over, check out our living situation, our yard, our fence and make sure we have air conditioning in our cars. The plan was for them to come up, check us out and we would then arrange to go pick her up from Ocala. The day of, they called us to let us know they had a really good feeling about us and wanted to bring the dog, in case we want to keep her. We were SOOO thrilled!

Cami is one of the best dogs ever! She's WONDERFUL with children of all ages (especially babies), she's very gentle (last name and all now) and sweet as can be. With all the late hours Mark has been working since opening his shop 3 years ago, she has been right there beside me to be my buddy and keep me company. Cami is deaf...so you can call her what you'd like. She does three tricks with hand signals: sit, high five and every one's favorite...break dance. And the way you get her to break dance is pull out a white baby wipe, paper towel, toilet paper, napkin, tissue...ANYTHING! She will shake her booty in the air with her shoulder down and spin in a circle. Since she can't reach back there...she'll do anything to get her bum rubbed! Cami is allergic to almost everything! Her skin is ultra sensitive. And she can't swim. Bulldogs are sinkers. So they (we) have to be very careful. She is a lot of work but she is way more reward. We know she's SOOO excited to be a big sister.

We have lots of nicknames for Cami. First one we came up with was for her snoring. And by snoring I mean like Big David Rochester (Kim you know what I mean). If I call Mark, I can hear Cami snoring through the phone. When she sleeps, she's out. Its as if she's hibernating. So we call her a bear. And since she's white...sometimes she's a polar bear! When she eats or sniffs something, she sounds like a pig. Therefore, she's also called "PIG." And there are tons of variations with pig and bear it. Sometimes she's even "Dog-Bear-Pig."

Cami has been our baby while we were unable to have a baby. She comes to the shop with me every day and everyone loves our pig! So now, I wanted to share with you pictures of my sweet little lady.

In honor of Easter, here is our Easter Pig! Her eyes even look like Easter eggs. Thank you red eye reduction! Notice Mark scratching her rump to keep her still for the picture.

This was in our first home. Mark was so overwhelmed by the heat he had to shave his head...and look at our big pig!

This was Thursday night at the shop. See how tired she looks?

This was in her FAVORITE place...the back seat of my car. Cami LOVES to go for a ride. She owns the back seat! In the summer I usually have to put her up front so she can get cooled off faster.

Whatever bad things have been said about Bulldogs is all lies. These dogs are GREAT family dogs! Mark and I have truly been blessed to have this sweet little spirit in our lives. In June Cami will be 7. That is OLD for a Bulldog. We hope to have her for many more years. She has brought so much happiness into our home and our hearts.